New Projectors for Adelante’s Education Workshops

New Projectors for Adelante’s Education Workshops

Adelante is not just about credit. We also use educational workshops pertaining to business administration skills to fully equip our clients on how to run a successful business. Since the majority of our clients are uneducated, it is important to implement teaching techniques that are visual and interactive. We are always in the process of bettering our education workshops to ensure they are effective, engaging, and relevant for every borrower. That is why earlier this month, we started the transition of changing the presentation of the information from large paper posters to handheld, portable projectors. The mobile projector has many benefits including increased engagement, portability, it won’t fold or get wet resulting in less distraction and ultimately will cost less than the posters in the long run.

Gissela, Human Resources Assistant, says to the clients, “As an organization, you are our number one priority. We want you to know we always try our best to effectively listen and take your feedback seriously. We hope by incorporating this new technology into our education workshops, it will provide a new way for you to better understand the information and more effectively run a successful business.”

The projectors were piloted and tested first in the La Ceiba office before implementing the change countrywide. Here is what the clients of assembly Delicias B thought about the change.

Alma Theresa

Business: Food stand

Duration with Adelante: 6 months

“I think the videos were effective in explaining the information. I haven’t been with Adelante for too long, but I know for me, I found it more engaging and I could follow along the information presented during the video well.”

Carla Martinez

Business: Clothing merchant

Duration with Adelante: 6 months

“The videos really kept my interest which was helpful. For me, I can better learn from videos more than information presented on a hand-out. The videos are more interactive, especially with commentary from the credit officer providing useful examples that I can use in my business.”

Ruth Gonzalez

Business: Small market owner

Duration with Adelante: 5 years

“I much prefer the videos to the large posters used before. The information was interesting and held my attention the entire time and it was much easier to visualize real-life concepts and situations that occur in a normal business.”

Overall there was a positive consensus from the Delicias B assembly of La Ceiba. Though very early in the program, we are working to develop a satisfaction survey for our clients and continue piloting the mobile projectors in more assemblies of La Ceiba. As Gissela states, “The thing we want the most is for the clients’ businesses to grow and be successful. Because when they grow, they achieve a better quality of life, achieve self-sustainability for themselves and their families and we are overall a better country because of it. This is why we must continue to develop and provide the resources they need to grow to the best of our ability.”

Julie Ma

Julie Ma is Adelante’s International Field Coordinator serving from Adelante´s headquarters in La Ceiba, Honduras. Julie has a background in international health and development and worked in Lima, Peru before joining the Adelante team. She graduated from Emporia State University with a B.S. in Biochemistry and B.A. in Spanish.